Service Learning Observation Report

My first exposure to dentistry, out of the chair, came when I began babysitting for a dentist. He worked on the weekends, and his daughter and I would tag along. Initially I stayed as far away from the dentist chair as possible, but later, I became curious, and gradually observant. By the time I reached high school, I was intrigued by every aspect of dentistry. The procedures quickly turned from one of torment into something more familiar. Coming from a family of engineers and contractors, I recognized the doctor’s instruments because they were similar to tools I had grown up watching my father use. I began to think of dentistry as performing small scale construction in a small hole. Performing such intricate procedures while simultaneously utilizing my mind and hands both excited me and complimented my detail attentive personality.

Limestone Smiles allowed me to witness the technical aspects of dental assisting. With being a newer establishment, they were not as busy as the previous. In this extra time is was educated on some key concepts a dental assistant would need to know. The tooth numbering system was explained to me so that I would understand what was being mentioned during each appointment. Teeth are labeled from one to sixteen on the top row from left to right: this is assuming one is looking into a client’s mouth. The remaining bottom row is the labeled from seventeen to thirty-two going from right to left. I was also taught some key concepts pertaining to labeling the mouth. The buccal (facial) surface is the side of teeth that touch the mouth. The lingual surface in the back side of one’s teeth. The median line divides the mouth in half between upper teeth eight and nine and lower teeth twenty-four and twenty-five. The side of each tooth facing towards this line is the mesial side while the side pointing away is the distal surface. The biting surface of each tooth is referred to as the occlusal surface. Knowing this information helped me to better understand the procedures I witness. I also learned about two prevalent instruments used during appointments, the explorer and the PF5. With the explorer, the explorer end is used to find cavities while the perio probe end is used to measure bone lose. An older African American male

I decided to start volunteering at the local humane society because I’ve always been really passionate about animals and wanted to start benefiting them in the community. Prior to my service I was delighted because I’ve wanted to start volunteering for years and was glad the opportunity had presented itself. Throughout my experience I learned a great deal and met a lot of new people. Even though I’ve only just started serving my time at the Fox Valley Humane Association I can truly see the difference it has made in the community.

It is also a “boundary spanning” activity in that it requires active involvement from people both within and outside of the classroom context, often resulting in participant contributors who represent a variety of generations, ethnicities, social groups, and experience levels (Billig and Furco, 2002, p.vii). Service-learning is designed to reduce the boundaries between an institutional campus environment and the community around it. It is designed to connect learning to real experience through service and reflection (Ball and Schilling, 2006; Becker, 2000). As a baseline to facilitate this development, service-learning is distinct from other types of community service and civic engagement experiences in that the service-learning experience must not only have a service and reflective component but also be clearly tied to the curriculum through learning objectives and theoretical underpinnings (Bloomquist, 2015; Pritchard, 2001). As Barbara Holland, former Director of the U.S. National Service-Learning Clearinghouse, shared, “Service-learning is all in the hyphen. It is the enrichment of specific learning goals through structured community service opportunities that respond to community-identified needs and opportunities.” (Kenworthy-U’Ren, Taylor, and Petri, 2006: 121).

Service Learning is an educational strategy set in place to enlighten students with instruction and experience, in addition to improve learning , teach responsibility, and support the community. Service learning is vital to the development of the student, given that it intertwines academic and personal development together. It is aimed to enhance a student’s learning in all aspects of life.

Before deciding where I wanted to do my service learning, I knew I wanted to do something that had some relevance to my degree that I will be receiving in healthcare management. I was eager to gain more experience and become more knowledgeable of how an organization operates as it relates to healthcare management. I was able to secure an opportunity to volunteer at the Dallas Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital. After completing the required VA forms, I got partnered with Mr. Alonzo Price Jr. who is a Management Analyst in Ambulatory Care, which is the department that oversees the Primary Care Providers.

When I began my Civics class, thinking it potentially difficult and boring, I did not initially look forward to this project. However, as I did each activity, I found myself enjoying each and every one. From sitting in a board meeting to collecting trash, I discovered something new in all of the ways I volunteered. Not only did the people I volunteered for gain something through my service, but I feel that I gained a lot as well.

The convention provided me with a platform to learn about the dental practices, hygiene, and technology. I learned about various dental

For this service learning project, my group and I organized a goods drive. We placed donation boxes around Denton for art-therapy supplies. The group also held an event on November 6, 2017, at Texas Woman’s University to encourage students to make donations. All the donations went to the Child Advocacy Center in Denton; this organization provides assistance to children that have been victims of physical or sexual abuse. This service learning project relates to the theories and ideas in chapter 13 and chapter 14 of Women’s Lives: A Psychological Exploration. Chapter 13 relates to mental health, and it signifies the importance of social support during stressful

Service Learning is learning through experience to gain sociological observation, concepts, and theories so I decide to do my service learning hours in one of the two high schools that is part of the Oceanside Unified School District. The name of the school is called El Camino High School. El Camino High School is a high school that is located at 400 Rancho Del Oro Drive in Oceanside, California. It has over 3,000 students currently attending. The school’s mascot is the “Wildcat” and their colors are gold and red. El Camino High School is a public school that is part of a system of free public education that is maintained at a public expense for the education of students who are part of that community or district. El Camino High School is a place is a public school where students are coming out of middle school and are

For the Service Learning Assignment, I decided to volunteer at Northwind Rehabilitation and Health Care Center. My current interest is working in the medical field that deals with babies. The service learning placement that best fit my schedule was Northwind Rehabilitation and Health Care Center. This organization works with mostly senior citizens that need special care at all times. There were times where individuals that were not senior citizens that came there because it is not strictly a nursing home. The residents are not able to care for themselves and need constant supervision to ensure their safety. Some of the resident may require physical therapy. My responsibilities was to interact with the different residents on each visit and complete

Through out my service-learning project there were different activities and sites my cousin and I visited in the community. The first site my cousin and I had our activity in was in my home in Boyle Heights, where we had a conversation about his diabetes and talked about his experiences with type1 diabetes as a teenager. I decided to choose my home as our first activity because it was the perfect place to ask my cousin to participate in my project and make him feel comfortable enough to share his experiences with me. The second activity we arranged was a lunch date at Outback Steakhouse in Glendale. Having lunch at a restaurant was my cousin’s idea because he wanted to show me how different and difficult it can be from eating a home made meal.

Recap your service-learning project. What do you do? When or for how long? Where? With what issue did your service-learning project connect? Did you work with others in any way? How? In other words, give full, specific details about your amazing work!

The topic for the Service Learning Project which I have selected to write about is about The Spinal and Thoracic Treatment and Research (STTAR) Center at the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, which conducts research related to the function of a child's spine and chest. I will accomplish this SLP by focusing on four key areas. Those areas are as follows: the establishment of the learning outcome of the SLP, the mechanics of the SLP, the community relationships resulting from the SLP, and the personal effects of the SLP. An analysis of these areas will reveal how The Spinal and Thoracic Treatment and Research (STTAR) Center at the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio conducts clinical studies that analyze the chest in unique and unprecedented

According to Kathleen Flecky and Lynn Gitlow, service-learning is defined as, “learning that occurs in experiences, reflection, and civic engagement” (Flecky & Gitlow, 2011). In recent years more universities are implementing service learning into their curriculum. A key concept of service learning is civic responsibility. Civic responsibility can simply be defined as your responsibilities as a citizen. As will be shown later in this paper, service learning can have many benefits not only to a student, but also to the community members